[Solang]1 man nüchtern ist,
Gefällt das Schlechte;
Wie man getrunken hat,
Weiß man das Rechte;
Nur ist das Übermaß
Auch gleich zuhanden:
Hafis, o lehre mich,
Wie du's verstanden!
Denn meine Meinung ist
Nicht übertrieben:
Wenn man nicht trinken kann,
Soll man nicht lieben;
Doch sollt ihr Trinker euch
Nicht besser dünken:
Wenn man nicht lieben kann,
Soll man nicht trinken.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• H. Wolf About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Wolf : "So lang"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Trinklied aus dem Divan", op. posth. 75 (Sechs Lieder für vierstimmigen Männerchor) no. 3 (c1837), published 1849 [ four-part men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "So lang man nüchtern ist", 1889, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 36, Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "For as long as you are sober", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Finché si è sobri", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 62
Finché si è sobri
il male ti attira;
Quando si è ebbri
comprendi il giusto;
Ma ecco l'eccesso
a portata di mano:
O Hafis, insegnami
quale è il tuo pensiero!
Perché ho un'opinione
che non è esagerata:
Chi non può bere,
neppure sa amare;
Ma voi bevitori,
non credetevi migliori:
quando non si sa amare
neppure si deve bere.